While I was in Manhattan for the National Retail Federation Big Show in January, I took the opportunity to tour a few retail locations. I didn’t get to all the ones I wanted to visit, but two of the ones I did visit underscored a unique approach to the retail store, one that I believe will increasingly shape the future of stores. That approach is co-creation.

Hennes & Mauritz AB said it was abandoning its target of opening 10% to 15% more physical stores each year—a blistering pace that turned it into one of the world’s largest clothing retailers—and instead targeting local-market sales growth both online and off.